Frozen
by scifiromance
Summary: Seven and Chakotay crash land on a desolate ice planet, how will they cope?  If you don't like C/7, don't read this!
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: A new little story, it's probably going to be quite short with two or three chapters, please review!**

Seven sat at her normal place round the briefing room table, she was slightly early for the impromptu meeting the Captain had called. The sound of rapid human chatter warned her of Lieutenant Paris and Ensign Kim's arrival before they came in and sat at their assigned places. They were arguing about something inconsequential, as was almost always the case and she allowed her mind to wander beyond them. "Penny for your thoughts?" Seven jumped and turned sharply to see Commander Chakotay sitting beside her, far from his normal position nearer the top of the table, gazing intently at her face.

"Commander?" she questioned, feeling that by now familiar nervous tension wash over her at his closeness.

"I was wondering what you were thinking about…you seemed distracted."

Seven fought the blush that was threatening her face, what a strange intimate question. Well she certainly couldn't be honest, since it had been he himself that had occupied her thoughts. How could she respond? Perhaps he was angry at her for not concentrating on the meeting ahead. "I apologise Commander, I will not permit such a lapse in concentration again."

"I wasn't telling you off Seven, we're all allowed to daydream sometimes." Abashed by how his attempt at friendly conversation had been taken, he fell silent.

Just then B'Elanna, Tuvok, the Captain and a male Ensign Seven dimly recognised but couldn't name entered the room. She expected Chakotay to rise to join them but he stayed where he was, keeping his eyes focused on her. Desperately she searched around for what this could mean, yes they had become closer since the incident with the Ventu the previous month but his expression was one she hadn't seen before. Mentally she began to berate herself, why should she be taking interest in his expression? Perhaps she had something on her face and he was too polite to tell her? Unconsciously she brushed at the side of her face facing him, finding nothing amiss. She glanced up and saw that B'Elanna's face reflected her own confusion as she observed how close Chakotay and she were sitting with raised eyebrows.

Everyone was pulled from their own thoughts as the Captain spoke, standing beside the Ensign. "Good morning everyone, I'm sure you're all aware that we are running low on deuterium…"

"Yes Captain." Said everyone in well trained unison.

"I've called this meeting because Ensign Hendricks here…" she indicated to the Ensign beside her. "…has come up with an interesting proposal." She smiled at him, "Go ahead and tell them yourself Ensign."

Hendricks swallowed and stepped forward, "Well, I was thinking of a solution and I thought about my father's experimental extraction methods…he was the foreman at a deuterium mine you see and I looked at Seven of Nine's most recent maps of the area and I think there's a planet 2.5 light years from here that's a candidate for frozen deuterium…"

Seven stood up, "You know of a way to extract deuterium from ice?"

Hendricks looked very nervous of Seven and spoke shakily. "My father thought he had a way…he shared it with me." He handed Seven a data pad and she read over it quickly.

"I believe this method is plausible Captain."

"Good! I thought so too." Said the Captain. "My suggestion is that we form an away team to go down to this planet and attempt the method on a small scale before we try to refuel the ship using it. Hendricks would go of course and you Seven but…"

"I'll go Captain." Chakotay volunteered almost immediately.

Seven tried not to let her discomfiture show but how was she supposed to concentrate on mining if Chakotay went with them?

The Captain of course did not share her concerns. "I was hoping you would Chakotay. Set out at 1500 hours."

They all began to leave to start to prepare but B'Elanna caught Chakotay by the arm. "Why are you suddenly so desperate to go on this away mission?"

Chakotay tried to sidestep the question. "It sounds…interesting."

"Oh? Are you sure it's the mission you find interesting? You seem awfully attached to Seven of Nine all of a sudden."

Chakotay fought the urge to gulp. "She's…a member of the crew that's all."

B'Elanna looked at him seriously, "Not to you she's not."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he said as calmly as he could, though he could feel his blood pressure rising.

"Hopefully nothing." She replied before turning and walking out the door.

1500 hours came and went and Chakotay, Seven and Hendricks were on a shuttle approaching the planet. Seven tried to concentrate on what Hendricks was telling her and keep her eyes from Chakotay's back but was failing dismally. Chakotay was supposed to be piloting but was concentrating more on the exchange behind him. Hendricks sounds nervous, can I blame him? He's not the only one nervous around Seven but for a completely different reason. Maybe his reasons aren't too different, she's an attractive woman. A stab of jealousy hit him; he's too immature for her! Well, how old is Seven? Late twenties, much closer in age to Hendricks than you.

These trains of thought were interrupted by Hendricks shouting, "Look, there it is!"

The white sphere of ice and snow that made up the planet loomed before them. "Where do you think we should land?" Chakotay asked Seven.

"The far north west shows the highest concentration of deuterium." She replied.

"Right, north west it is then." He turned the shuttle and began to prepare for landing but as soon as they came into orbit the shuttle gave an ominous shudder. "What's happening?"

"I am uncertain…" Seven started as the shuttle began to fall at ever increasing speed. Running scans she noticed something she had neglected to see before. "The planet's core is too magnetic; we have to get out of orbit before…"

The warning came too late. After a few gut wrenching seconds the shuttle crashed to the surface, jerking them all forward as it came to a halt. Seven blearily lifted her head, but before she could react there was a sinister crack beneath them and the shuttle dropped again. Seven blinked awake and cried out in horror. There was a huge hole in the side of the shuttle and it was quickly filling with water. Lifting her legs out of the freezing water as quickly as she could she saw Hendricks slumped on the console head bleeding, up to his ankles in water. Ignoring a sharp pain in her left side she opened the emergency hatch and used all her strength to heave him out of the shuttle and onto the frozen ground below. She looked out to see that the shuttle was rapidly sinking into a lake of some sort but Hendricks had found solid ground. "Commander!" She looked for him desperately before seeing that he was face down in the water at the front of the shuttle. Grabbing his back she pulled up his lifeless body, having the presence of mind to grab the emergency medical kit before jumping out with him onto the snow covered ground.

Ignoring Hendricks, she spread Chakotay out on the ground, panic rose in her soul as she realised he had stopped breathing. On auto pilot she began giving him CPR, pressing on his chest and breathing into his mouth. Still nothing. A sob burst from her lips, "No, Commander!" Again she tried, but he remained lifeless. "Please Chakotay…" she began to plead tearfully, before deciding to give it one more go. Pressing her mouth over his she mentally begged him to breathe. A splutter and then a cough answered her and she pulled her face back as he coughed up water. Seeing Seven's white frightened face so close to his set his heart racing. "What…happened Seven?" he spluttered in confusion. She was too overwhelmed to answer him, collapsing onto his chest with what he thought was a sob but then decided he must have imagined it, for he couldn't believe Seven would cry over him.

**A/n: I hope you want more! Please review since this is a new story!**


	2. Chapter 2

It took Seven's brain a few minutes to realise that what she was doing, lying on the Commander's chest, was highly inappropriate and she bolted upwards feeling a stab of pain as she did so but her embarrassment was so acute that she was barely aware of it. Chakotay gazed up at her for a few seconds, transfixed by her blushing face. "What happened Seven?" he eventually managed to say as his voice returned.

Seven couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. "You…you had stopped breathing…I had to…resuscitate you…"

I was unconscious while she was giving me mouth to mouth? Life's so unfair…Wait, why am having such thoughts right now? I have more important things to worry about! Once he had suppressed these rather inappropriate thoughts, Chakotay's mind turned to the situation at hand. "Thanks…what happened to the shuttle?"

"It sank." Seven replied bluntly, not one to hide bad news.

"_What_?" He immediately tried to sit up but his right arm collapsed under the weight and excruciating pain rushed through him.

Seven hurried opened the medical kit and pulled out the single battered tricorder, quickly running a scan over him. "Your right shoulder is badly dislocated."

Chakotay eyed the rapidly swollen socket with a grimace of pain but knew he had to take the lead. "Can you help me sit up?" Seven obediently began to help him in lifting his bruised twisted body of the ground and he sat taking stock, leaning heavily on his left hand. Seven left his side to check on Hendricks, guilt prickling her for leaving him unattended for so long. As she knelt down a knife of pain pierced her ribs and unable to breathe began to cough violently. Taking her hand away from her mouth she realised it was covered in blood, apprehensively she scanned herself finding that she had four broken ribs on her right side, a punctured lung and probable internal bleeding. "Are you alright Seven?" asked Chakotay, not liking the sound of that cough.

"I am undamaged Commander." There was not point in worrying him over something he couldn't help. Wiping her hand on the snow covered ground, she turned back to Hendricks.

Chakotay looked up at the hole in the roof of ice above him where the shuttle had obviously fallen through and at the water under which their shuttle was now submerged. "We seem to have fallen in some sort of underground cavern, I'm assuming that you can't activate the shuttle's beacon from here?"

"No Commander." Seven replied stoically, still bent over Hendricks.

"Why do I have such bad luck with shuttles? The Captain's going to kill me for losing another one…"

"I highly doubt she'll kill you this time as you have disabled or destroyed_ several _shuttles…"

"Alright Seven I get your point; I was just trying to lighten the mood…" He stopped his retort when he saw Seven's pale drawn face and remembered Hendricks. "How is he?"

Seven looked down at the unconscious man beside her. "I can do nothing for him. He has at least one skull fracture and is bleeding internally."

Chakotay walked painfully over, "If he's unconscious, he's more vulnerable to hypothermia isn't he?"

"Correct."

Chakotay felt snow falling through the hole that the shuttle had created hitting his body, wind whistling through his ears. "We need to take as much shelter as we can, let's carry him to the far wall." Seven nodded in agreement and with Chakotay using his good arm and Seven trying to protect her broken ribs they managed to lift him up and drag him to the most sheltered wall where they laid him down on one of the two blankets they had and wrapped him up as tightly as they could. The pain in his right arm and shoulder was now almost more than Chakotay could bear and he sat with his back against the wall trying to think of anything else and failing miserably, allowing the cold to seep into his bones.

Suddenly Seven who had been almost totally silent for the last half hour since they'd moved Hendricks gave him the second blanket. "Aren't you cold?" he asked her in concern.

"I have a high cold tolerance."

"Oh, you won't get hypothermia then?"

"It's not that high but I may withstand it longer than you."

"Great." He muttered sarcastically.

"It is not great Commander! I do not wish to die alone!" she said in something between a snap and a sob.

Guilt filled him and he'd grabbed her hand before he knew what he was doing. "None of us are going to die today Seven. Voyager will find us."

She sighed in a way which told him that she didn't hold out much hope. "Perhaps."

He forced her to look at him. "Even if they don't, you're not alone okay?"

Seven saw nothing but sincerity in his face and swallowed the lump which formed in her throat before quickly returning to Hendricks' side. For a moment Chakotay wanted desperately to call her back but instead he just wrapped the blanket she had given him more tightly around himself.

They lost track of time, but eventually Chakotay began to notice numbness in his injured arm and decided to get Seven to scan him again, when she did her face darkened. "Your arm has swollen up so much that your sleeve is cutting off your circulation."

"What can you do?" he asked her anxiously.

Seven pulled a pair of scissors out of the medical bag and began to carefully cut away the sleeve, wincing in sympathy every time he did. Throwing the scraps of fabric away, she realised how wet they were, "Is all of your uniform this wet?"

"Pretty much. I almost drowned remember?"

She flinched at the memory. "It will need to come off." She stated, hoping this didn't sound as suggestive to him as it did to her. "To help prevent hypothermia." She explained when his eyebrows rose.

He obeyed without question, though she had to help him with his top, trying not to look at him or blush and failed dismally.

Chakotay felt bad for her in her discomfort but couldn't help feeling pleased as he watched her take his body in. Throwing away the soaking top layers and covering his vest and boxer shorts with the blanket, he awkwardly tried to restart conversation. "How long have we been here?"

"Almost six hours."

"What? So it's almost 2200 hours? Why isn't it dark yet?"

"This part of the planet is at summer solstice. The sun will not set."

"That's good. I don't want to be cold and blind…" He paused as the bio sensor Seven had placed on Hendricks began to blare.

Seven rushed over as fast as her broken ribs would allow her and activated the sensor's resuscitation programme. The still body jolted but didn't revive. After fifteen desperate minutes she was still trying and Chakotay felt the need to intervene. "Seven…"

"No!" She continued in her efforts, now attempting manual CPR.

"Seven…he's gone…"

Her shoulders slumped and he saw to his shock began to shake, sobs reverberating from her body. "If…if I had been more careful…this would have never have happened…"

Chakotay looked at bemusement. "What are you talking about? Come over here."

Reluctantly she left the body and came to him, collapsing to her knees on the snow fighting back the urge to cough. "If I had noticed that the planet's core was so magnetised I would have never allowed you to attempt landing…"

Chakotay had never seen such anguish and guilt on anyone's face before let alone Seven's. "Seven, listen to me, none of this is your fault! If it's anyone's fault it's mine…"

"No! It's not…" A cough wracked her whole chest and blood sprayed out onto the snow.

"What happened to you?"

"I broke four ribs and punctured a lung in the crash. I believe I am bleeding internally."

Chakotay stared at her in horror. A punctured lung! Internal bleeding! She's worse of than me and not a murmur. "But you said…"

"I lied." She admitted quietly, tears rolling down her cheeks.

He now saw a shiver run down her entire body. "Let me guess, you lied about not feeling the cold too?" She nodded wordlessly and he pulled her into a lying position beside him on the blanket, pulling it round her as she turned onto her uninjured side. Seven began to feel the blood thump through her ears, this probably wasn't good for her cortical node, no it's not, said another voice in her head but hypothermia will kill you first anyway. "Sharing body heat will prolong our survival." She commented, just for something to say.

Will it? He thought dimly, that had been the last thing he'd been thinking of. "That's good." He whispered in reply and they fell into silence for more than an hour, lying as close to each other as they dared.

Seven allowed another cough to wrack her and began to grow concerned when she didn't hear the normal sympathetic murmur. "Are you alright Commander?"

"We're going to die aren't we Seven?"

She didn't feel there was any point in lying. "That is the probable outcome Commander."

"I'd prefer it if the last person I was going to see called me by my name…" he said angrily, but was stopped by Seven's kiss. She would never be able to tell him why she did it, perhaps it was because she didn't want to die without kissing him or maybe it was just to stop his anger but it didn't matter to either of them as the relatively soft kiss became more prolonged.

Seven suddenly pulled back, her loose snow dusted hair falling onto his face, where he allowed his fingers to play with it absentmindedly while he gazed up at her tear stained face. Beginning to come to her senses she started to back away but his arm constricted round her and his face pressed against hers. The kiss was so loving and passionate that it took them an age to part and when they did it was only by a couple of inches. "Better than the mouth to mouth?" Chakotay teased gently.

Seven laughed softly, Chakotay had never heard her laughed before and instantly fell in love with the sound, wincing as it turned into a painful cough. He guided her wheezing pain crippled body gently onto his chest, where she immediately sought out his heartbeat. "Relax now sweetheart." He breathed into her hair and they both did as the cold closed around their minds and bodies but not their hearts.

**A/n: Please review! I've had an idea to extend this story a bit, what do you think? Are you liking it so far?**


	3. Chapter 3

Janeway paced around the bridge in a highly agitated state, glaring at the white orb of a planet which filled the view screen. "They were supposed to return hours ago, where are they?"

"The shuttle's ion trail shows that they headed towards the north western continent, but there is no trace of it or its emergency beacon." Tuvok replied in his stolid monotone.

"If it had crashed there should be some trace of it! Can you find any life signs Harry?"

Harry looked up from his console with a shake of his head. "None, Captain. The planet's magnetic core is blocking our sensors."

Janeway fought the urge to groan, indulging in the irrational hope that her crewmembers and friends could still be alive. "Icheb to the Captain." Icheb's voice suddenly made itself known through the comm. system.

"Yes, Icheb?" She asked sharply.

"Captain I believe I have found Seven's and one other human's life sign under the planet's surface."

Everyone on the bridge uttered a collective sigh of relief, at the same time wondering who had died. "How did you cut through the magnetic interference Icheb?" asked the Captain, feeling bad about her earlier impatience with the boy.

"Astrometric sensors can pass through such interference if they are accurately tuned, I doubt the shuttle's sensors encountered anything amiss until it was too late, they seem to have crashed through the ice."

"Thank you Icheb, you may have just saved Seven." The Captain turned to B'Elanna. "Is there anyway to get them out of there without endangering the whole ship?"

B'Elanna thought for a moment, "Sending another shuttle down would be a suicide mission but in theory if the Astrometric sensors can be tuned to pass through the interference so can a transporter beam, but I don't know how long that would take…"

"Get on it now, they'll be freezing to death down there."

"Yes Captain." B'Elanna immediately ran out to go to the transporter room.

"Icheb, you keep tabs on those life signs and tell me if anything changes." Janeway ordered, praying to God all the while for just a little more time.

Finally after what seemed like a lifetime but what was in reality only a couple of hours, B'Elanna returned to the bridge. "I've done the best I can Captain but the signals may degrade with all the interference…"

"We'll just have to give it a try. Death is a certainty down there." Said Janeway with stubborn determination in her voice. Turning to Tom she said, "Tom, you're relieved for medical duties, the Doctor's going to need some help." Tom nodded briskly and took his leave. "Be sure to beam them straight to Sick Bay B'Elanna."

"I'll do my best Captain." B'Elanna replied quietly, thinking painfully that Chakotay may never see her child. "Activating transport." She stated as she allowed her fingers to do the work, pressing the required buttons. She felt herself sag in relief as she saw the results. "I have all three of them in Sick Bay."

The Captain acted immediately, calling the Doctor. "Doctor…"

"Hendricks is dead, I have his body here." Said the Doctor sombrely.

Janeway felt the familiar emotions of sorrow and regret tinge her soul. "Seven and Chakotay?"

"Both alive, barely. You'd better come down here."

"Right away."

Tom looked at the bundle of frozen blankets that was apparently Seven and Chakotay, approaching them just as the Doctor came off the comm. with the Captain, beginning to run scans. "He has severe hypothermia and a dislocated right shoulder; she also has severe hypothermia, four broken ribs, a punctured lung and internal bleeding."

The Doctor shook his head in pity, "They must have been in agony and in such temperatures too…"

Tom pulled the blankets back and what he saw made him laugh in shock. "I think maybe they were thinking of other things…" he said with a smirk as he observed Seven with her head firmly rested on Chakotay's chest who was wearing nothing but a vest and boxers, his good arm tight round her shoulders as she curled into his side, his fingers still brushing her ice covered hair.

"What exactly are you insinuating Lieutenant?" asked the Doctor angrily.

"What do you think? If they were lying in a bed there'd be no doubt…"

"Well there is doubt!" snarled the Doctor as he tried and failed to hide his jealousy, keeping his eyes off the frozen intertwined figures before him.

"What in the world are you shouting about Doctor?" said the Captain in surprise as she entered.

"The Doctor's having difficulty accepting the…_physical_ evidence in front of him Captain." Said Tom.

The Captain gave him a confused stare. "Evidence of what?"

"That Chakotay and Seven were having no difficulty keeping each other warm…if you know what I mean."

"No Lieutenant, I don't know what you mean!" she snapped in irritation, heading towards the biobed before falling silent at what she saw. It couldn't be what it seemed like, although judging by Tom's knowing smirk and the Doctor's dark frown, they thought so. Seven was a child, she didn't think of such things! As far as she was aware Chakotay barely trusted Seven…no it just couldn't be! She frowned in her superior way at the Doctor and Tom. "These…suspicions do not leave this room, is that understood? Send Chakotay to me after he's recovered."

Chakotay blinked awake, his vision blurry. "Seven…" he croaked fretfully when he realised she was no longer with him. A blur appeared before him and said something he couldn't understand. "Seven!" His voice became stronger as confusion and fear took hold.

"I said she's fine Commander! Now sit up slowly." This time the Doctor got through to him and blessed relief soaked into his soul as he rose slowly off the bed into a sitting position, only now seeing Seven lying unconscious on the next bed over.

"What happened to her!" he almost yelled in fear and frustration.

"She almost died, just like you did! Her injuries were worse than yours, which I've healed by the way; she'll wake up soon enough. You're to go and see the Captain."

Chakotay his eyes still on Seven, couldn't believe what he was hearing, how could they expect him to leave Seven? "Why?" he muttered dismissively.

For the first time he saw the Doctor's face truly harden against him. "It was an order Commander."

Chakotay saw that there was no leeway in his expression and reluctantly gave in, getting off the biobed and brushing off his uniform. Wait…he hadn't been wearing a uniform. The Doctor's death glares suddenly made sense, what did the crew think? As soon as the thought occurred he realised he didn't care, only what Seven thought mattered. "Call me when she wakes up."

He went straight to the Captain's ready room, knowing he had to get this over with so that Seven didn't get upset when she woke up. Kathryn sat behind her desk, distant as always. "You wanted to discuss something Captain?" he said coldly, knowing perfectly well what she wanted but privately thinking it was none of her business.

"Where do I start? How about how you're going to combat the rumours that are going to surround this whole escapade!"

"Ignore them."

"Oh and how are you going to maintain the respect of the crew now that…"

"Why should I lose their respect?" He could feel his temper rising, what was wrong with acting on feelings whatever the circumstances?

Kathryn laughed bitterly. "Be honest now Chakotay, what happened? Everyone is allowed a lapse in judgement…but if you continue this game it will cause pain for both of you…"

Chakotay couldn't tell her, it was too private, sacred even. "I would never hurt Seven!" he snapped on the brink of losing his self control before icily continuing, "What ever you think happened, I don't really care, it's a private matter between Seven and I, which is nothing to do with my duties or hers."

The Captain was shocked to see real unadulterated emotion in his eyes. If he looked like that when he was just talking about her then it really was true. A sigh left her lips as the anger left her, she would need to get used to this. "Just give us all some time Chakotay."

Chakotay knew he couldn't take that as tacit approval, he didn't need it but he knew Seven probably would. "Goodnight Captain." He said as he turned and walked to Sick Bay.

Seven had woken up only a few minutes after Chakotay had left, her eyes immediately searching for him. The emptiness she felt at his absence was such that it hurt physically. What had she done? You have developed romantic emotions for your First Officer, emotions he seems to reciprocate, a voice in her mind told her. The voice of the Collective argued back. Impossible. He is a human and you are a Borg, love is an indulgent human irrelevance. Love? How can I even think of that word? Because it's true, she acknowledged to herself. This was somewhat of a release until she realised that the moment she saw him her cortical node would probably kill her and she desperately wanted to see him. Shakily she called the Doctor over. "Yes Seven?"

"Doctor…I need you to remove the emotional failsafe in my cortical node."

"Seven don't be rash, even if he seduced you, you'll only get hurt…"

If she hadn't remembering just in time that he was a hologram who could feel no pain Seven would have slapped him for such a remark. "You told me it was life threatening! I want it removed now, it is not your place to question why!"

The Doctor stared at her at such an uncharacteristic outburst, before picking up a medical tricorder. "At least one good thing will come of this." He muttered. "Lie down."

When Chakotay came tried to enter Sick Bay the Doctor blocked his way. "You can't see her right now Commander, I had to operate on one of her implants…"

Chakotay interrupted him, "What? Is she alright?"

The Doctor looked at him for a moment and saw love there, maybe it was a good thing this man had finally made her come to her senses. He wanted her to love and be loved even if it wasn't with him. "I'll send her to your quarters when she has recovered."

Chakotay saw that it had taken a lot for him to say that and he squeezed his shoulder. "Thanks Doctor."

**A/n: I'm not sure about this chapter, tell me what you think, there's still more to go!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chakotay retreated to his quarters to try and rest but as Seven would have said it proved futile. Still he must have managed to get some sleep for he didn't call to check on Seven until mid afternoon on the day after the crash. The Doctor told him it would be early evening before Seven would be free from her alcove so reluctantly he left his quarters to do some work. With every passing hour the whispers behind him got louder, Voyager's rumour mill had kicked into gear. It always irritated him to be a subject of gossip but this time it worried him far more than usual, he knew Seven would be overwhelmed and humiliated by all this innuendo. As he shifted in his chair to ease his still painful shoulder the chorus of voices tellingly ceased. He looked down at the report of the mission he'd been busy writing, only omitting he and Seven's more intimate moments and then glanced around the bridge, surely he wouldn't need to make this public just to silence the crews tongues? The shifty expressions that he received told him that he would have to, at least to a certain degree. Unable to stop himself uttering an exasperated sigh he leaned over and tapped the Captain on the shoulder. "Captain, I've finished my report and I think it would be sensible to make it public, at least to the senior officers."

The Captain's posture relaxed instantly, relief brightening her face. "Yes, I think that's a good idea. I'm relieved you're willing, It's better to have these things out in the open. I'll call a meeting in the briefing room." Chakotay nodded assent, sinking back into his chair as he tried to prepare himself for what was likely to be a trial by fire.

He sat near the top of the table as his friends and colleagues filed into the room, picking up a copy of Chakotay's report as they sat down. "Where's Seven?" asked Harry, confused that she was nowhere to be seen.

"Regenerating, the Doctor had to operate on one of her implants." Chakotay replied. Everyone read the report but couldn't help finding support for their initial assumptions in the fact that Chakotay seemed to be better informed of Seven's whereabouts than even the Captain.

"So…you weren't wearing your uniform because it was wet?" asked B'Elanna carefully.

"That's right. The shuttle crashed into an underground lake, I almost drowned and the wet uniform was speeding up the spread of hypothermia so I took it off."

This seemed plausible but no one could really let go of such a juicy rumour, particularly not Tom Paris who unlike most of the others had actually seen evidence. "Why were you…" he cleared his throat somewhat suggestively, "…cuddled up like that with Seven?"

"Seven said it would preserve our body heat and keep us alive for longer."

B'Elanna almost snorted; no woman would cling to Chakotay like that without ulterior motives, even Seven. Chakotay was too handsome for that. Thankfully the ever reliable Tuvok threw Chakotay a lifeline. "A logical course of action in such circumstances."

That predictably silenced everyone, maybe nothing had happened. Awkwardly the conversation moved on to Hendricks' funeral and what they were going to do now about the deuterium shortage. Chakotay barely listened, so relieved was he that he had missed the bullet; he didn't even notice that everyone else had left until the Captain spoke to him across the empty room. "Chakotay, I think you rather me should write the eulogy for the funeral tomorrow since you were the last with him." She couldn't stop a smirk coming with her next words, "Get Seven to help you, since you said she took his death so hard."

Chakotay swallowed, "I'll talk to her Captain." Janeway gave a small laugh at the turns life could take as she left. Whatever she is she's not a fool, thought Chakotay as he left to wait for Seven in his quarters.

Seven stepped out of her alcove to the familiar sound of "Regeneration cycle is complete." It was 2000 hours. Her stomach flipped over at the knowledge, how could she have regenerated for so long after such emotional turmoil? Nerves began their malignant gnawing at her insides, what was she going to do, just go up to him and inform him of her feelings? Well she'd already shown him her feelings but what if he had interpreted that as lust? She knew from research that being close to death increased a human's sex drive substantially. No…this had been different, although she admitted to herself that if they had been without injury they would have probably gone far beyond kissing…A bright blush diffusing her features stopped these thoughts in their tracks. Perhaps she should just leave such events in the past where they belonged, but the Doctor had told her the Commander wanted to see her, in his quarters of all places. She would have to confront her fears sooner than she wanted to.

She eventually found her way to his quarters, angry at her inefficient mind for it had taken her longer than it ever should have to remember where they were. Putting one hand against the wall to steady her suddenly unstable legs and pressing the bell with the other, she waited. A soft "Come in" answered her and she forced her heavy legs to obey the words and step inside. He was bent over a pad at his table but his head immediately lifted to look at the arrival, a beaming smile which both warmed her heart and filled her with fresh fear spread across his face as his eyes met hers.

Chakotay looked at the beautiful woman, surprised when she didn't speak or even come any further into the room; in fact her face had visibly paled at the sight of him. Deciding to make the first move he left the table and slowly approached her. "Hey…" he murmured gently, taking her arm.

Seven felt her determination leave her at his touch, but she had to say something, _anything._ "What…what are you doing?" she managed to stammer after several seconds.

Chakotay peered at her in confusion, she looked petrified. "I'm writing the eulogy for Hendricks' funeral tomorrow."

Seven gulped and tried to hide her flinch, perhaps he only wished to consult her about Hendricks and just wanted to forget their intimacy? Chakotay saw the gulp and felt the flinch, was she still sensitive about Hendricks; did she still think it was her fault? "Seven you know it wasn't your fault don't you? Icheb told me there was no way the shuttle could have detected the magnetic field before it was too late…"

"I know Commander." She mumbled.

Why couldn't she call him Chakotay, every time she called him Commander he felt a stab of rejection in his heart. "Seven, I think we need to talk…"

No, being talked to was never good, it always meant rejection. "…About…what?"

Chakotay unconsciously tightened his grip on her arm as hurt filtered its way into his mind. "What do you mean about what?"

Seven turned her head away, "You can forget about it…I realise being in a dangerous situation can…cause unwanted events…it is perfectly understandable that you wish to ignore these events…"

Chakotay listened to this, the closest thing he had ever heard to a rant from Seven, in horror before cutting her off with a passionate kiss, relief coursed through him as she allowed and responded to his kiss. As he pressed her against the wall, holding her wrists, she wrenched her lips away, gazing at him speechlessly, flushed and breathless. "Did that feel as if I didn't want you?" he asked forcefully.

"No…" she gasped out, before her mind returned to her, "It was still wrong of me…to force myself on you…you are my First Officer…"

"No! I'm a man first! I'll never be just your First Officer again…and you certainly didn't force yourself on me, did you feel any resistance?"

Seven began to feel tears slide down her cheeks as she looked into his impassioned eyes. "I'm in love with you Commander…I'm sorry…"

He clasped her face, caressing it as he searched for a way to understand. "What do you mean you're _sorry_? You've just made me the happiest man alive for God's sake!"

"The crew…they won't understand…"

"They will soon enough and even if they don't it doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is that we're in love, do you understand?"

Seven nodded mutely and allowed him to begin to kiss her neck and throat, despite the pleasure she now allowed herself to take from this another question formed in her mind. "Commander…"

Chakotay pulled back, eyes flashing with passion. "Seven, promise me that you'll never call me Commander ever again!"

Seven pressed her fingers to his lips, "On one condition…"

"What?" He hoped desperately that she was teasing him.

"I will never call you Commander again if I never have to get on a shuttle you are piloting ever again!" She felt a wide smile form under her fingers.

"I think that's an acceptable condition…" he laughed, "I'm in love with a wise woman…"

Seven wrapped her arms round his neck, "And I'm in love with a terrible pilot…" she gave him a deep kiss, "…but he's an excellent kisser…" Chakotay laughed with her before lifting her off the ground, his sore shoulder forgotten. "What are you doing?" gasped Seven.

"Wait and see." He carried her to the bed and they proceeded to do what the rumours attested they had already done.

Seven never did call him Commander again and she didn't go on another away mission for several years even through Chakotay wasn't always the pilot for a very unexpected but happy reason…

Seven blinked awake. Why was she so tired? She gazed dreamily up at the ceiling; she was in Sick Bay, why? A smile spread across her face as her memory slowly returned and she rolled over to see Chakotay sitting beside her, cradling his newborn daughter. Her own smile widened with his as she watched him whisper to the baby, his eyes bright with emotion. His head lifted and they shared a significant look. "Hey, go back to sleep, you've only had an hour and she doesn't need fed again yet, having a baby is an exhausting business." He told her softly.

"It is but something tells me I'll have to adapt to sleep deprivation." She replied, opening her arms as he gave her the baby. Seven pulled back the blanket to look at her again, it still felt so surreal, but so normal at the same time. She pulled the little one close and kissed her, "I can't believe I was ever scared at the prospect of having you little baby." She murmured softly against her delicate ear. Chakotay heard the comment and put his arm round Seven's shoulders, kissing her forehead. A comm. signal interrupted their peace. "Chakotay it's been two hours, can we come and see the baby now?" asked the Captain.

Chakotay glanced at Seven who nodded, "Yeah, I suppose you can."

They all seemed to come within seconds as if they'd all been outside Sick Bay's door. The Captain approached the bed first. "Oh Seven, she's perfect…how was everything?"

The Doctor appeared and spoke before Seven could answer, "A textbook delivery, no problems and the baby's a picture of health." He stated proudly.

"How are you Chakotay?" asked Tom.

"The best I've ever felt." Said Chakotay truthfully.

"Well I've felt better; I put a bet on that the baby would be a couple of days late…"

Harry laughed, "What were you thinking Tom? What were the chances that any child of Seven's would be anything other than perfectly punctual?"

Seven allowed the Captain to take the baby. "Hello little Valentine baby, how's your father going to beat a baby for a present huh?" she cooed.

"I'm not. There's nothing better!" said Chakotay, giving Seven a kiss as she leaned into him. He brushed back a few strands of her damp hair and whispered in her ear, "See, I told you they'd dote on our baby Seven." Watching as the Captain rocked the baby, the Doctor standing on guard like an old mother hen, she wondered what she had been so worried about. Of course they had got over their anger just as she had got over her fear now that her surprise baby was actually here. She sought out Chakotay's hand and squeezed it, thanking him for loving her once again.

The baby now got passed around her new crewmates, Tom even seemed to have misty eyes as he held her, "B'Elanna can we…"

"No! Not until Miral's at least three! Though I have to admit this pretty little one is making me feel a little broody…"

Eventually they did get their baby back, the Doctor lowering her back into her mother's arms. "Have you thought of a name yet?" Chakotay and Seven both sheepishly shook their heads. The Doctor stroked the baby's head thoughtfully. "How about Eirwen?"

"What does it mean Doctor?" asked Seven.

"It's Welsh for "white snow"." Replied the Doctor, sounding rather pleased with himself.

Naomi, who had somehow managed to get past everyone else to the bed, smiled. "Oh, she'll be like Snow White!"

Seven looked to Chakotay for explanation and everyone smiled, they knew the child had been conceived on that frozen planet, common sense proved it since they had crashed in May and Seven had had a full term baby in February. Any idea that Chakotay was only staying with Seven because of the baby had quickly been banished by his ecstatic reaction to the pregnancy and they all were by now sure that it was a love match. A love match that had produced a baby scandalously early perhaps, but a love match all the same.

Later, when everyone had finally left, the new little family was alone again. The baby was snuggled against her mother enjoying a well deserved nap, meeting the Voyager crew, not to mention being born were after all very tiring experiences. Seven breathed an exhausted yet contented sigh and relaxed into Chakotay's shoulder. "Seven, what are we going to call her? We can't keep calling her baby."

Seven stroked the baby's cheek, rosy with health, thoughtfully. "I am unsure, none of the possibilities we considered suit her."

"I know…it's funny, but the Doctor's suggestion keeps recurring in my mind."

"Eirwen? It's pretty, though not as apt as everyone thinks since we both know she wasn't conceived on that cold planet but in your quarters…"

"Ah well, it's part of Voyager mythology now and it was our first date in a way…"

Seven laughed softly and the baby stirred. "Shh Eirwen…" she murmured.

The baby settled down immediately and Chakotay smiled. "That's it, she likes it."

"Eirwen, our little snow child." Whispered Seven and the couple shared a loving kiss over their baby's head.

_**The End.**_

**A/n: Please give me a nice long review since this is the last chapter. I hope you like the ending, I just can't resist a cute idea!**

**Thanks to: SweetDeath04, DestinChild, Rono777, MidnightVampireCharlotte, juliaw, nerdlymike, EMcKinney and h3llfrz. **


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